SDA Youth in the Last Days

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15:2) We are in a decisive time in earth’s history.  The scenes of earth are drawing to a close.  Now, more than ever, is the time to build our character aright before God, because the test ahead will not be easy.  “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15) Gold, silver, and p...

We can all relate to feelings of sadness, grief and hurt as we experience loss and disappointment in our lives. I've gone through trials before. Friends have let me down, I've lost loved ones, people who I thought were true friends hurt me... We all have had trials of some sort in our lives. But one thing we can remember throughout all of our life, God is always there. He will be there for us whenever we need Him. When all seems to be against us, He is one of the only true friends that will be there for us.  “ I implore you to trust wholly in God. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” James 4:7, 8. The Christian life is a life of conflict, or self-denial and conquest. It is a continual battle and a march. Every act of obedience to Christ, every victory obtained over self, is a step in the march to glory and final victory. Take Christ for your Guide and He will lead you safely along. The pathway may be rough and t...

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” (John 15:1) The disciples had just participated in the last supper with their beloved Master.  Now they walked with Him to the garden of Gethsemane, where He often went to pray.  As they walked the dusty streets up to their destination, they passed a vineyard.  Christ was soon to have the weight of the world on Him, and to Him, this was a last opportunity to reveal to them the Christian experience before He would be crucified, and He saw a perfect example in the analogy of a vineyard.  It is true - basically the whole Christian experience is packed into the first eight verses of John 15.  This is the first of an eight-part series on Abiding in Christ, based on this analogy that He showed to His disciples right before the most critical period in the history of the universe.  Christ is the True Vine.  What is the purpose and function of a vine?  A vine is the source of everything tha...

Prayer. Communing with God. It’s talking to God as a friend. He wants to hear from us! When you talk to your friends, do you enjoy hearing from them? Or would you prefer if they never reached out to you, never spoke to you, and never made an effort to come and see you? Of course you’d choose the first option. You enjoy talking to friends! That’s how it is with God. He wants to talk to you as a friend. He’s a loving, kind God that wants to get to know you. “The soul that turns to God for its help, its support, its power, by daily, earnest prayer, will have noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth and duty, lofty purposes of action, and a continual hungering and thirsting after righteousness. By maintaining a connection with God, we shall be enabled to diffuse to others, through our association with them, the light, the peace, the serenity, that rule in our hearts. The strength acquired in prayer to God, united with persevering effort in training the mind in thoughtfulness ...

Sitting on that rough wooden bench at Young Disciple Camp, conviction grabbed me, and I knew what I had to do.  It was decision time. Shifting into reverse, let's back up a bit to December, 2016.  Each Christmas, instead of giving gifts to each other, our family writes down a gift for Jesus, a resolution related to some struggle we're having, or anything God is calling us to do or surrender for the coming year.  For a while I had felt God calling me to publicly commit my life to Him through baptism.  So that's what I wrote down.   This year I will commit my life to God through baptism.   As the year progressed, I became more and more unsure of my commitment.  I didn't have the courage to make my stand.  That is, until YD.  At Young Disciple Camp, I was greatly blessed by all the campfire talks, Deep Bible Studies, etc.  Sabbath evening, the campers were given a chance to share what God had done for them at cam...

   “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  ~2 Timothy 2:15     Many times when we come to this verse, we freeze, feel convicted, and then brush it aside.   Why do we do this?     God has graciously and providentially given us His word, inspiring men of God to write, sometimes on the rolling hills, sometimes in His glorious temples, sometimes in the dusky dungeons.  The authors of this book were anywhere from mighty kings to lowly fishermen, but even though there was such a variety of authors and such a variety of circumstances for writing, the Bible says the same thing straight through.  It does not contradict itself; instead, it explains itself.  It has stood for millennia, and has never failed, once.  Its prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter.  By the Bible, we know what is truth and we understand God....

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35, 38, 39      "God is love" is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green - all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy. SC 10.1      Everything God does is done in love toward us. No matter where we are or where we've been, God is love. H...

The Cape Cod coastline in Massachusetts has had over three thousand shipwrecks. Think about all the self-confident sailors who may have traveled those waters thinking they didn’t need the lighthouse. I’m sure they were extremely glad there was one when they realized how dangerous the ocean really was. Without the lighthouse, they would be dashed to pieces on the jagged rocks, just like the thousands of others who had lost their ships and cargo in those dangerous waters.      We often go through the sea of life the same way. We think that we don’t need a lighthouse. We think they can make it through life’s storms without one, but the truth is, we can’t. Without a lighthouse, we will always end in a shipwreck.             God’s word is our lighthouse and it can guide us to safety. We need to read it and study it because without doing that, we would be like a ship knowing that there is a lighthouse nearby, but sailing in the dark water...

     Many pass long years in darkness and doubt because they do not feel as they desire. But feeling has nothing to do with faith. That faith which works by love and purifies the soul is not a matter of impulse. It ventures out upon the promises of God, firmly believing that what He has said, He is able also to perform. Our souls may be trained to believe, taught to rely upon the Word of God. That Word declares that "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17), not by feeling. Do Not Rely on Feelings. Let us put away everything like distrust and want of faith in Jesus. Let us commence a life of simple, childlike trust, not relying upon feeling but upon faith. Do not dishonor Jesus by doubting His precious promises. He wants us to believe in Him with unwavering faith. 2MCP 537.3      If you are lacking feelings, don’t let that discourage you, but use it as an opportunity to have faith. You should never measure your faith by your feelings. Satan often use...

One of the most beautiful and precious privileges in the world is helping a baby Christian learn to walk.  Why? -           You watch little light bulbs flicker and grow strong -           They see the love of God, oh, so clearly! -           The utter simplicity of the plan of salvation is so tangible -           It is a wonderful opportunity to encourage and strengthen someone -           The glories of heaven are so real, because you can look forward to spending eternity with them -           They almost do more for your Christian walk than you do for them. -           It is almost the definition of joy If you are not working with someone for Ch...

Imagine you are a twenty-two year old mother who was born into a wealthy family, living in the third century with your husband and infant son in Carthage (Which is now known as Tunis). At this time, it is a vibrant Christian community. You and several other new believers are preparing for baptism. Your life goes on as normal, and the excitement in you increases as your baptismal classes become closer to finishing. You can't wait to get baptized and give your heart to God! One day, Emperor Septimius Severus decides to ban Christianity. All of your hopes and dreams crash down as you, with the four others who were also preparing for baptism with you are some of the first to be arrested. In solidarity, Saturus, another member of the group who had not been arrested with the rest of you, turns himself in. Soon after your arrest, your father comes to visit you. He tries to persuade you to turn away from your faith, and then be set free and go home.   You respond by pointing to some ...

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its savor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matthew 5:13      In Matthew 5:13, it says we are the salt of the earth. Salt of the earth really means Christians. But are we the true salt of the earth, or have we lost our savor? Ellen white says: Though the wicked know it not, they owe even the blessings of this life to the presence, in the world, of God’s people whom they despise and oppress. But if Christians are such in name only, they are like the salt that has lost its savor. They have no influence for good in the world. Through their misrepresentation of God they are worse than unbelievers. DA 306      If we are Christians in name only, we are like the salt that has lost its savor. We have absolutely no influence for good in the world and through our misrepresentation of God, we are worse than unbelievers. We are then go...

   Sacrifice.  What does it mean?      Because of our fallen nature, the natural tendency is to do things that feel good.  That is what self is; fulfilling our desires.      Sacrifice is different.  When we don’t fulfill one of our selfish desires, we call it a sacrifice.  The autopilot of carnal man is to fulfill selfish desires, so when we make a sacrifice, it hurts.      But wait a minute.  In Romans 12:1, God calls us to be a “living sacrifice”.  How could God require us to do that?  Surely, a loving God would not require that of us.  But, perhaps, there is love in it.      First, this question: did God make any sacrifices?  Yes.  When Adam fell, God decided to carry out His plan to send His only Son, Jesus, to this world to die for us.  He did it at a huge risk.  If Jesus had failed in one point, everything would have be...

“Let there be light!” resounded to the furthest corners of nothing. But God had spoken. His Word alone produced light.  The very origin of our existence.  And His word alone can flood light into our spiritual darkness. But man sinned, breaking the Creator’s heart.  The only way to redeem the fallen race required the death of the Creator in place of the mortal creation.   Seized with fear, the ruddy fisherman strained at the oars.  Waves broke on them, as they slowly sunk.  Minutes away from a watery grave.  Finally they gave up.  And it was then that they remembered their Master. Isn’t that what we do?  We try to run our own lives in the way that we want.  But once our way goes awry, then we turn to Jesus for help. Rousing from sleep, with authority Jesus commanded the wind and the waves. “Peace be still!” And His word alone calmed that stormy sea.  And He can calm the storms in our lives as well, bu...

The naturalistic worldview ignores anything supernatural or spiritual. All hope, accomplishment, and life lie in nature and man. Apart from those two, there is nothing. The Christian worldview sees things differently. Christians believe in supernatural and spiritual things. Christians believe that God has a hand in the universe, our planet, and each of our lives. Christians believe that all life comes from God, and “without him was not any thing made that was made” - John 1:3B. Often, naturalism takes on the opinion that man must fight against nature, and that nature is always going to prevail over man. This is apparent in E. J. Pratt’s poem on the Titanic . As Christians, we believe that God is in control of nature and the elements thereof. It is when man goes against the will of God that tragedies like the sinking of the Titanic occur. Those in higher powers knew that sending the Titanic on a journey that fateful night was a bad idea; nevertheless, they ordered that it b...

Imagine you are living in a prosperous family and you have everything you could ever desire. You are married to the man of your dreams and you are living a happy, contented life. But then suddenly, your husband and his brother dies, leaving you and your sister-in-law widows. Within the next several weeks, your aged mother in-law decides to go home, back to her country.      The journey will take her seven-ten days on foot. She is determined to go, and there is nothing you can do to change her mind.      You and your sister-in-law love your mother-in-law so dearly, that you both insist on going with her to help her and to protect her and to keep her company. But weeping, your mother-in-law implores you each to return to your mother’s houses. Her words convey that, if you went with her, you must expect to remain forever homeless and a stranger.      Your sister in-law, with bitter sorrow, tenderly kisses your mother-in-law for the last time, an...

  I stood on the brink of eternity, looking o’er the past. Chills raced down my spine as I watched the world form from a single word. Perfect and beautiful, unmarred by sin. Then, the scene changed. With awful solemnity I beheld a woman reach towards an enticing fruit. “No!” I shouted, shutting my eyes. With horror I watched the consequences of disobedience. Driven from the garden and into Satan’s dominion. The flowers were replaced by thorns, and the submissive, kind beasts for vicious carnivores. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched an innocent lamb die by man’s own hand. It wasn’t fair. But then, I remembered, this was Satan’s way. Death and misery. I stood transfixed on Moriah’s summit, as a knife was held high above a submissive human sacrifice. I cringed, waiting for it to be plunged into the heart of the victim, but a heavenly being stepped forward, stopping the knife. I shuddered as the angel of death arose and slew the firstborn, not protected by the sy...